the fire rises

Permit me, for a moment, to enter nerd mode. I'm excited for The Dark Knight Rises, as I'm sure are many of you. Really what I'm most looking forward to about it, though, is Chris Nolan's interpretation of Bane. The Dark Knight was really an order of magnitude better than Batman Begins. Begins was silly and cartoonish and more like an episode of the animated series (which was excellent, don't get me wrong). After Begins was successful and Nolan had a blank check to do whatever he wanted, he was able to do what he does best. Nolan is at his best telling stories that subtly subvert ones perception of reality. Even considering TDK, my favorite Nolan movies are still Memento and The Prestige. He was able to use Joker as his mind-fuck in TDK, with considerable thanks to Heath Ledger. Movie tropes notwithstanding, the Joker has always traditionally been the villain that was Batman's mental equal. TDK was one of the first major comic films that had a real rival to the hero. No megalomaniacal plot for world domination/destruction, no crazy technology. Just a dangerous villain to be dealt with intimately and purposefully (to be fair, Spiderman 1's final face-off with Norman Osborn was quite good). In this regard, Bane is a better foil for Batman even than the Joker.

While Joker is arguably the most dangerous figure in Batman's rogues gallery in a volatile sense, Bane has always been the most direct threat. Joker could construct elaborate, psychopathic scenarios to torture Batman, but he could never stand up to him in a straight fight. On the other hand, Bane is both a genius and a super bad-ass. Having both deduced Batman's true identity and outsmarted him, he humiliated Batman by literally breaking him and assuming control of Gotham. Now, in a Chris Nolan world, I fully expect Bane to be realized as the cerebral, urban tactician that he deserves to be and the hulking monster most people identify him as. But I really dig the aesthetic that Nolan's gone for in TDKR. It's not cartoonish. No lucha libre mask. Just a bad-ass Tom Hardy with a guerrilla army at his back. Bane is Batman's true equal and the recent release of posters and banners really highlight that rivalry.

One of my few complaints about TDK (I have more for Begins) is that, for everything else that he does so well, Nolan is not that great of an action/fight director. His action is often muddled and incoherent. As he's done more action movies, it's improved. I'm really hoping TDKR is able to deliver a great Batman/Bane fight. I hope it's intimate and brutal, but most of all I hope it's spatially legible and well edited!

I'm also currently reading Scott Snyder's run on Batman in DC's reboot, the New 52. It's pretty fantastic.



/nerd

Happenings

So life has been fairly uneventful lately. I've more or less settled into the work life routine. I spend my free time and weekends doing things to distract myself. Hiking (see previous post), shows (I saw Andrew Bird last week and he was awesome), planning hypothetical vacations (anyone want to travel late summer?), and eating a lot of good food. Of the last point in particular, I've entered into something a little more official. I've recently become a D.C. area contributor for the food blog, Serious Eats, and I've had a couple of posts up so far. It's a little difficult for me to write in a voice that's not totally my own and for a public audience, but I suspect I'll get the hang of it. I figure, I search out good food and blog about it here sometimes anyway, it'll provide somewhat of a tangible aspect to recreational eating/blogging.



This was what I ate today and will write up for a post for SE's "A Sandwich A Day" column. It's ChurchKey's fried chicken Luther (fried chicken + bacon + doughnut). My post will go up on SE in the next couple of days, so to avoid a duplication of effort, look for my write-up there!

[Edit: It's up here.]

On another note, since I've started this blog, there have been periods of decreased activity during times where I've had a lot of schoolwork or was just stuck in the doldrums of routine. I think, despite my best efforts, I'm in a period of the latter. For all my years of being bothered by this, I've yet to come up with a good solution to this. I'm beginning to think it's my fault. There is, however, one major distraction coming up this week. To avoid outing myself as a total nerd (for those not already privy to this fact), I'll just say, May 15th will be an interesting day.

rag & bonnie

This weekend I went on a sunrise hike at Old Rag in Shenandoah. I've hiked Old Rag close to 10 times at this point, with this weekend being the 3rd sunrise I've caught there. No matter how many times I see it, the star filled sky away from the light pollution of major cities is always absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately, a smattering of clouds rolled in as we drew near the summit, but we had a couple hours of unobscured views (except by trees) of a sky that resembled a black table cloth with an upended saltshaker. The sunrise was also, as always, beautiful as it lit up the foggy Shenandoah Valley, if a bit uncomfortable due to the windchill.



There was one thing, though, that made this hike different from previous visits. Her name is Bonnie. It's common knowledge to Old Rag regulars that there are a few dogs that roam the trail. Their owners are locals in the area and, although pets aren't technically allowed on the trail, they're left more or less to their own devices. I've seen these dogs before, but have never really interacted with them. As we began our descent from the summit after the sunrise, it wasn't long before I met Bonnie. Bonnie is a floppy eared, black and white Border Collie. She approached me at the beginning of one of the rock scrambles. I reached out to pat her, but she recoiled slightly - not in fear or aggression, but it was clear that she was not going to let me touch her. I took the hint and kept on down the trail. Bonnie followed.

Bonnie began to trot ahead of us about 20-30 paces and stop. She'd turn around and watch until I caught up before continuing on ahead again for a short distance. At first I didn't think it was possible, but it soon became clear that she was guiding us down the trail. She knew where all the trail markers were, knew the best way down the rock scrambles, and would always make sure we were going to the right way before continuing on. When we stopped for breaks, Bonnie would pad back to where we were and lie down patiently at my side, but she still wouldn't let me pet her. Every few minutes, Bonnie would pick out a stick from the side of the trail, drop it in front of me and wait for me to throw it. Some of the sticks she chose were either too big for her, some were twice as long as her, or were just roots of plants that she did her best to dig up.

Not only was Bonnie leading us down the trail, if another hiker got too close to us or tried to touch her, she'd bark and growl at them. She even lunged at a few hikers. She was fiercely protective. This continued the entire 4 hour descent. I'm not entirely sure why Bonnie decided to take us under her wing, but it was almost magical. Animal social behavior is always fascinating to me and to see in Bonnie behavior that is so distinctly human was captivating. I felt like I was in a Disney movie. When we got to the trail head, I wish I could have given Bonnie a scratch behind the ears and some beef jerky, but she disappeared in a flash. I suppose she saw us down safely and had other things to attend to. Shimu might be a cute lapdog, but I wish I could have taken Bonnie home. She belongs in the wild though.



On another note, a quick plug: One of my oldest friends recently launched a campaign for the National Bone Marrow Registry, called Cheekswab. He's been recruiting donors in the region through the site and drives throughout the area. The picture below is one I took of him giving a talk at our old church on Friday about how his circumstances have led to the creation of Cheekswab and a drive to combat illnesses like leukemia and lymphoma. If you have a minute to spare, please check out his or the NBMR site and register to become a donor.

Spring Redundancy

Familiarity really dulls my ability to appreciate the beauty in things. Repetition and routine make it hard for me to see what I should. I wish I could see the cherry blossoms for the first time again. Read my favorite books for the first time. See my favorite movies.

I need more wonder in my life.

DTLA, Getty, & Griffith

I was in LA this past weekend. Went without too much of a plan. Gave a few friends a heads up that I was coming, made a few notes of things to eat/see/do, and flew out. The first day I met up with my friend, A, from BU and hung out in Downtown LA and Echo Park. We went to this very cool sausage place, Wurstküche, where I had a pork and alligator sausage. More or less immediately after, we headed to Cole's, which is allegedly the originator of the french dip sandwich. We sat in the darkest corner of the bar for a while to escape the midday heat having a few drinks. Cole's was actually my third lunch that day - before those two I went with another friend, J, to Din Tai Fung. I was told it was the best Taiwanese food this side of Taipei, but I can't say that I could tell the difference. Shanghai Cafe for me any day. Don't judge me.



After my superfluous lunches, we went and hung out in Echo Park, where A used to live. We got super hipster coffee from Intelligentsia, where almost every worker wore a ridiculous hat and looked like they were dressed as Hemingway characters. We wandered a bit, in and out of record and comic shops. Eventually we found ourselves at a Spanish bar, the name of which escapes me. Over some giant margaritas, we witnessed what appeared to me some old Spanish high rollers partying with old Spanish prostitutes while a live mariachi band played in the corner. It was surreal.

The next day, I went to check out the Getty Center. It was beautiful. I always find that it kind of takes the wind out of my sails when I try to photograph something so iconic with 100 other Asian tourists around me with cameras. This is part of why I love nature photography. Photographing a landscape, iconic or not, after a hike feels more earned. Either way, I took a few shots and browsed the galleries. Eventually I took a nap in the shade of a column on the veranda. It was warm and quiet. A humming bird flew by my ear, weaving in and out of the tall stemmed flowers in an adjacent planter. I haven't seen many humming birds in my life. I watched its precise, punctuated movements until it flew away.



That afternoon, J and I went up to the Griffith Observatory. It was right around sunset and the views were breathtaking. The sky was clear and there was a cool breeze. J pointed out that one downside to such a beautiful day was that everyone has the same idea. The observatory was teeming with families and couples



When the sun dipped below the horizon and the lights of the city grew brighter, I couldn't help indulging in some bokeh.



That evening, I linked up with another friend, C, from back home. We went to Pizzeria Mozza for dinner and it was pretty damned good. I had read that Mozza made the best crust in LA and, though I didn't have anything to compare it to, I'd be inclined to agree. C and I caught up over our pizzas and wine, after which, the both of us pretty tired, we crashed relatively early.

The next morning I got up early and flew home. It was a good weekend. Back to the grind in the morning.